So Much Wit

Supreme Court Jus­tice Joseph Bradley, in an 1882 opin­ion:

It was never the object of [patent] laws to grant a monop­oly for every tri­fling device, every shadow of a shade of an idea, which would nat­u­rally and spon­ta­neously occur to any skilled mechanic or oper­a­tor in the ordi­nary progress of man­u­fac­tur­ers. Such an indis­crim­i­nate cre­ation of exclu­sive priv­i­leges tends rather to obstruct than to stim­u­late inven­tion. It cre­ates a class of spec­u­la­tive schemers who make it their busi­ness to watch the advanc­ing wave of improve­ment, and gather its foam in the form of patented monop­o­lies, which enable them to lay a heavy tax upon the indus­try of the coun­try, with­out con­tribut­ing any­thing to the real advance­ment of the arts. It embar­rasses the hon­est pur­suit of busi­ness with fears and appre­hen­sions of con­cealed liens and unknown lia­bil­i­ties to law­suits and vex­a­tious account­ings for prof­its made in good faith.

(Via Buzz Ander­sen)